Jose!
I rolled with Jose and Chris today after the noon class at HBJJ. I like rolling with these dudes because they’re very technical. I tried out a lot of stuff today. Here’s my self-critique:
Good
- Did the flip-over butterfly guard pass I learned last week
- Remembered to do a neck crank to set up my side mount ( I can’t believe how well this works )
- When mounted, I created good space with my arm-frame
- Tried to do an arm crank from spider guard - I’ve never been able to get this submission but I saw an opportunity and tried for it.
- Did a good escape from side mount and remembered to pummel for underhooks
- Remembered to pummel for an underhook on the “right” side when I had my partner in half-guard.
- Tried to do the step-over-pass to side control from last week. But I ran out of mat space and pulled the plug before doing the step-over.
Bad
- After successfully passing butterfly guard with a flip I was so surprised I stopped on my back and got swept. This is a perennial problem for me. Anytime I do something good I’m momentarily stunned because I do good things so infrequently.
- Wasn’t able to transition from side-mount to knee-on-belly. This is especially irritating because just last week Sean Flannery taught us how to counter when your opponent lifts his knee to prevent mount. Doh!
- After creating space with my arms when I was mounted I wasn’t able to hook the leg and transition to half-guard or get butterfly guard. I just lay there like a dumb-ass countering Jose’s submission attempts.
- Ended up in north-south and froze. I’ve never been exposed to any curriculum for north-south and I wasn’t able to do anything creative.
- Wasn’t able to finish from spider guard, which is annoying because I’d convinced myself that spider guard was better for me than regular guard because of my stumpy, yet powerful legs. Maybe this is just wishful thinking.
Overall, I think I need to do more review after class, because I continually get into situations where I get stuck thinking about what I should do next - then my partner gets an easy sweep or counter. Without fail, I remember what I should have done in a given situation as I’m driving away from class. Nothing is instinctive for me so I definitely need to study more.